Bearcats Set Several Top Ten Marks at Mt. Hood Invite

Despite the cold and wet conditions at Mount Hood Community
College, Willamette University’s track & field team had several
competitors break into the top ten of all-time Bearcat records.

Andrea May (pictured left) recorded a pair of wins in the 100
and 200 for the women, while Mara Engel, Roseanne Kassebaum and
Edith Polanco all had first place finishes.

On the men’s side, top performers included second place finishes
for Ryan Hernandez, Everett Thomas and Lucas Nebert.

2005 All-American Andrea May (JR., Bellingham, WA) raced the 200
in a winning time of 25.73, fast enough to put her #4 All-Time at
Willamette. Even more impressive, that came after Andrea won the
100 in a personal best of 12.61, good for #5 All-Time at
Willamette.

Sascha Larsen-Helbing (FR., Honoka’a, HI), recorded a personal
best in the 400, running 59.81, a time that is second only to
teammate Mariah Hanson (JR., Paulsbo, WA) in the Northwest
Conference.

Hanson finished second in the 800 in 2:20.43.

In the field, Melinda Fahey (SO., Salem, OR) continues to
impress in each one of her throws events. A high school standout
from McKay, she recorded a personal best in the discus for the
second week in a row, throwing 126’1, a mark that puts her 2nd
currently in the conference. In addition, she has registered a
conference qualifier in the hammer, and currently is 3rd in the NWC
in the hammer.

On the track, senior Roseann Kassebaum (Oregon City, OR), won
the 400 hurdles in 64.90 seconds. Her time in this event leads the
Northwest Conference. Mara Engel (42:40.56) and Katrina Brett
finished 1-2 in the 10K race.

Edith Polanco (FR., Salem, OR), in her first steeplechase ever,
won the race in a time that puts her #10 All-Time at Willamette
with her time of 12:07.

For the men, Julio Vieyra (JR., Salem, OR) made it a great day
for McKay in the steeplechase, following Edith’s performance with a
personal best of 9:40.

Seniors Everett Thomas (Portland, OR) finished second in the 800
in 1:54.05. ryan Hernandez took second in the 400 in 51.46.

Steve Wilbon (SR., Stockton, CA) finished third in the long jump
with a leap of 21-07.25. He also ran a conference qualifier in the
100.

Nebert finished second in the 1500 in 4:07.32.

The Bearcats are back in action next weekend with most of the
team competing at Linfield while a small group of competitors will
travel to Eugene for the Oregon Preview.